San Diego Zoo

At three weeks old, a Greater One-horned Rhino calf at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park has no problem with the super-sized bottle wielded by a zoo keeper. This little Rhino gulps down a bottle every two hours and gains almost four pounds each day.

Born on November 27, the male calf, who has not yet been named, was cared for by his mother for almost two weeks, but he was not gaining weight as he should. To provide the calf with the optimal care to thrive, he was taken to the Safari Park’s animal care center where he is watched around-the-clock, bottle-fed every two hours, and taken outdoors for exercise each day.

After only a week in the nursery, the little Rhino is growing: he weighed 160 pounds at birth and currently weighs 190 pounds. Adult Rhinos weigh between 4,000 and 5,000 pounds.

Once widespread in Southeast Asia, the Greater One-horned Rhinoceros is now found only in India and Nepal. This species is listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature due to poaching threats. There are an estimated 3,250 Greater One-horned Rhinos remaining in the wild. This calf is the 68th Greater One-horned Rhino born at the Safari Park since 1975, making the Park the foremost breeding facility in the world for this species.

African Lion Cub, ‘Evelyn’, recently spent a beautiful morning, at San Diego Zoo Safari Park, tackling her regal father, ‘Izu’. Evelyn is one of four cubs who, for the first time, are sharing the Lion Camp Habitat with their father. Prior to this, the almost four-month-old cubs only had visual access to the adult male while being cared for solely by their mother, ‘Oshana.’

During the October 2nd photo-op, all four of the cubs eagerly ran into the grassy habitat with their mother, who stayed a short distance away. Izu tried to remain patient as the cubs, three females and one male, took turns pouncing, climbing and sniffing at him, even swiping playfully at his tail.

The four cubs were born on June 22nd and are named ‘Ernest’, ‘Evelyn’, ‘Marion’, and ‘Miss Ellen’, in honor of longtime San Diego Zoo Global supporters Ernest and Evelyn Rady and Marion Wilson, and in memory of Miss Ellen Browning Scripps, the San Diego Zoo's first benefactor.

Visitors to the Safari Park's Lion Camp may see Oshana, Izu and their cubs daily.

Two Cheetah cubs, at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park's Animal Care Center, recently posed for a photo after a bottle feeding. The female cubs are being hand raised by animal care staff at the Safari Park and receiving around-the-clock care, which includes bottle feedings every few hours.

The female cubs were born at the Safari Park's Cheetah Breeding Facility. As the mother, Allie, has been unsuccessful in raising her previous litters, animal care staff made the decision to hand rear these littermates, born on Sept. 1.

The nearly three-week-old cubs are growing quickly and now weigh around 3 pounds each. They are becoming increasingly active now that their eyes are open and their vision is becoming clearer. Animal care staff says that the cubs are full of personality, noting that at only a few days old, the youngsters were already swatting and interacting with each other.

"Every baby's different, but these Cheetahs really seem to be developing quickly in our eyes," said Eileen Neff, lead keeper, San Diego Zoo Safari Park. "They are great eaters; they started playing when they were just three or four days old. They could barely walk at that time, so it was pretty interesting seeing them tumbling around with each other."

These cubs with be Animal Ambassadors and each will be paired with a domestic dog for companionship, as are all ambassador Cheetahs at the Safari Park and San Diego Zoo. The dog's body language communicates to the cheetah that there's nothing to fear in new or public surroundings, which relaxes and calms the Cheetah.

Visitors to the Safari Park may see the two cubs at the Animal Care Center from 9 a.m. for a few hours daily.

The Children’s Zoo exhibit, of San Diego Zoo, has a dynamic new inhabitant, a three-month-old Fennec Fox cub!

Photo Credits: Ion Moe (Photos 1,3,5); Deric Wagner (Photos 2,3)

The new ball of energy weighs just less than 2 pounds. He will remain in quarantine for a while, but will soon begin training for his new position as Animal Ambassador for his species at the San Diego Zoo.

Animal Ambassadors serve an important role at the zoo. Their job is to help educate guests, especially children, by allowing them to get up close and learn even more about animals they wouldn’t normally have an opportunity with which to interact. This kind of intimate education encourages a vital interest and concern for species preservation.

Native to the Sahara of North Africa, the Fennec Fox is the smallest species of canid in the world. They are currently classified as “Least Concern” on the IUCN Red List.

Reid Park Zoo, in Tucson, Arizona, had a special birth announcement last week. The zoo’s first baby African Elephant was born August 20th!

Photo Credits: Reid Park Zoo

The female calf was delivered at 10:55pm on August 20, 2014 to mother, Semba, and father, Mabu. Although tiny in comparison to her parents, the yet-to-be-named calf weighed in at 245 pounds.

The new African Elephant calf is a first for Reid Park Zoo, but mother, Semba, has two older sons who were born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Seven-year-old, Punga, and three-year-old, Sundzu, arrived at Reid Park with the rest of their herd in 2012.

Mother, Semba, had been preparing for the birth of the new calf by gradually pushing away her youngest son, Sundzu, to feed on his own and encouraging his independent play. As the matriarch in the zoo’s exhibit, Semba has also continued to strengthen bonds with the rest of the herd through play and interaction. Her positive involvement with the herd has ensured support from Lungile, the other mature female, and strengthens the support system she will need for her new baby.

African Elephants are currently classified as “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List. This is a step-up from almost 20 years ago, when the species was still considered endangered. The support provided by accredited zoos and wildlife refuges, and the conservation measures involving habitat management and law protection, have helped provide for the future survival of the African Elephant.

**Special thanks to ZooBorns reader, Liz Davis, for providing links and info about the new baby!

Okapi mother Ayana watched over her 2-week-old calf as he took a break from nursing this morning at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The male calf, named Jackson, was born on July 6 and is spending time with his mother in the Okapi barn at the Safari Park as he gets to know his surroundings.

Okapi newborns can stand up within 30 minutes of birth and nurse for the first time within an hour of birth. They have the same coloring as an adult but have a short fringe of hair along the spine, which generally disappears by the time they are 12 to 14 months old.

To honor those who devote their lives to animal care and conservation, the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, along with zoos nationwide, are celebrating National Zoo Keeper Week July 20 through 26. There are more than 6,000 zoo keepers across the U.S. who care for animals in fields that involve medical care, training, research, enrichment and education. San Diego Zoo Global salutes the animal care professionals who contribute to wildlife care and help increase public awareness about the need to preserve habitats and the creatures that inhabit them.

A baby Gorilla born by emergency C-Section at the San Diego Zoo on March 12 is recovering from pneumonia and a collapsed lung, but zoo officials are optimistic about her future.

Photo Credit: Tammy Spratt

When 18-year-old female Gorilla Imani showed no signs of progress during labor, zoo veterinarians performed an emergency C-section, a very rare procedure among Gorillas.

The full-term baby Gorilla weighed 4.6 pounds and was delivered by a team of San Diego Zoo Global staff and outside consultants, including a veterinary surgeon and human neonatal specialists from UCSD Medical Center.

By the time the baby was eight days old, she was strong enough to breathe on her own without supplemental oxygen. Veterinary staff were able to start giving the Gorilla bottles with an infant formula, which the baby Gorilla quickly gulped down.

“The baby Gorilla is in critical care, but we’re optimistic she will have a full recovery,” said Nadine Lamberski, associate director of veterinary services.

The baby, who has not yet been named, is the first for Imani and the 17th Gorilla to be born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

On December 31, a 10-day-old female Masai Giraffe at the San Diego Zoo took her first venture around her exhibit, meeting other members of her herd and running, kicking and appearing very comfortable with her new surroundings. The calf was born in the early hours of December 22 and, until today, has been in a restricted 'playpen' area of the habitat until animal care staff felt she was old enough to venture into the larger space.

Mom, Bahati, introduced her new calf to the rest of the herd, after tenderly grooming her to make sure she was presentable enough to meet the rest of the family.

Keepers report the calf is healthy and progressing very well, even though she is still getting used to her legs, as evidenced by a few spills taken during her morning run. She measured 6 feet 1 inch tall (185.4 cm) and weighed 157 pounds (71 kg) at birth. She may weigh as much as 500 pounds (227 kg) and stand up to seven-and-a-half-feet tall (229 cm) by the time she is six months old.

Masai Giraffes are native to Africa and are threatened in some areas. Also known as the Kilimanjaro Giraffe, the Masai Giraffe is the largest Giraffe subspecies and tallest land mammal on Earth.

This is the tenth calf born to mother, Bahati; the father is the herd sire, Silver. Other Giraffes in the herd include two adult females and a female youngster born last May. Visitors to the San Diego Zoo can see the active and curious Giraffe calf, yet to be named, on exhibit in the Urban Jungle.

Lions Izu and Oshana of San Diego Zoo Safari Park are parents again! On December 6, Oshana gave birth to two healthy cubs, one male and one female. Although Oshana is an experienced mom who nursed and cared for her previous litters, she shows no interest in nursing these two. We may find it upsetting, but animal mothers both in captivity and in the wild may reject their young for many reasons, and we don't always understand why.

Zoo staff are hand-raising this litter in the zoo's animal care center, so that the little Lions will be able to grow up healthy and safely. So far the yet-to-be-named cubs are doing well under the care of dedicated staff. Keep an eye out—zoo visitors will be able to see them in the coming weeks!